Plumbers: Water meter noise?

Question

Our house (1998) has a 5/8 or 3/4" plastic main from street, and a brass water meter, feeding a 1" copper house main.

This is attached to the (underside of) floor joists with two-hole clips and runs across the basement. At the opposite corner

of the house, the 1" exits out and feeds our irrigation system.

(Prior to this is a tee which feeds all the house water)

Problem is; when our sprinkler system is on, the water meter makes a rapid "thug, thug, thug, thug" sound that you can hear throughout the house. It's not too loud, but our system comes on at 4:00 AM, and I can hear it then.

Will armor-flexing, (and using larger clips) on the main eliminate this?

Your suggestions are welcome.

Answer 1

sounds like you have a water hammer problem. there are a few things you can try to do. take apart your irrigation valves and clean them out. also check your water pressure. you may have way too much pressure.70 lbs is a good pressure. look to see if you have a pressure reducing valve. if you do this could also need to be cleaned out by taking it apart and flushing it. One thing I have done in the past is install a expansion tank. this worked really well on the hammer. or you could also buy a mechanical water hammer arrestor

Answer 2

I'm having this exact same thing.  I'm not sure how loud yours is, but mine is like the a clock ticking, just a little louder and when everything is quiet at 4am it is very noticeable.  When I get close to the water meter is sounds like there is something in there making the noise (maybe a wheel spinning to measure the volume of water).  I've talked to my utility company and since it is only 10 yrs old they said it shouldn't need to be replaced.  I'm going to try wrapping some insulation around it to see if that deadens the sound enough...  Any other suggestions out there???